


the hundredth “i love you”

by guiltykissmyass



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: ;), Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-09-23 19:00:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17085899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guiltykissmyass/pseuds/guiltykissmyass
Summary: 「The first time Leo had said that he loved Madara was when they first met.Usually that’s an odd time to say such words, but “usual” doesn’t quite ever apply to Leo Tsukinaga, does it?」updates come whenever i feel like it i guess





	the hundredth “i love you”

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gratefulallegiance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gratefulallegiance/gifts).



> hi!! um just a quick note my writing style is kinda? weird or at least it is to me i guess so apologies in advance for that aha!!im not a good writer by any means buuuuuut i put a lot of work into this so i hope everyone enjoys it...!
> 
> this isnt rlly canon compliant btw ao3 user guiltykissmyass says fuck canon lives I’m gonna do whatever the hell i wan t :3

 The first time Leo had said that he loved Madara was when they first met.

Usually that’s an odd time to say such words, but “usual” doesn’t quite ever apply to Leo Tsukinaga, does it?

He’d literally _run into him_ in the hall, Madara laughing heartily and saying how there was no need to apologize for it. Madara’s laugh was what had drawn him in, the happy, light tone of it. Birds of a feather flock together, as they say. So instead of going wherever the hell he’d originally been going, Leo tagged along with Madara, cheerfully chatting it up. He learned his name— “Madara Mikejima,” Madara said, “But you can just call me ‘Mama’ if you want, okay~?” And Leo nodded, deciding to stick with ‘Mama’, as it was roughly three times easier to remember, and he certainly didn’t want to forget.

Off he and Mama went— to where, he wasn’t quite aware of, but that was just part of the adventure. “We’re in the same year, Leo-san,” Mama smiled, and Leo didn’t think to ask how Mama already knew his name. Instead he just nodded once more, chirping a quick “Cool, nice to meet you, then!”

Apparently they were heading to a practice, “Ryuseitai,” Mikejimama clarified for him, Leo trying to retain as much of the information as he could. Ryuseitai was the hero unit, right? It was probably important for him to remember these things, to “know his enemy.” Leo fidgeted, shoving his hands into his pockets and pulling out a pen which he twirled between his fingers.

“That’s a pretty neat trick,” Mama praised, watching Leo’s nimble fingers intently.

Leo shrugged, but the corner of his mouth was tugged up into a smile. “You really think so?”

” _Mm~hm_ , maybe you can teach me sometime!”

Leo’s eyes light up at that, and that’s the first time those 3 little words are said to Mikejimama.

“Totally~! I love you, Mama!!”

One often doesn't know what do expect after knowing someone for the span of 5 minutes and then being told that they love you, but Madara seemed to be an exception to this. There wasn’t a beat missed, no awkward pause, no asking for Leo to maybe possibly tone it down a little.

With that same joyful chuckle, Mama responded “I love you too, Leo-san~”

* * *

The second time Leo said it he was sprawled out on the floor. On his stomach and propped up on his elbows, with various sheets of paper sitting in front of him.

“Yahoo, Leo~san!” A voice called out as they entered the room, spotting Leo from the doorway.

Leo's head whipped around, a familiar face waving excitedly to him.

“M-Mama, right?” Leo said tentatively, trying his best to recall. He was like, 89% sure that he was correct, though! Mama(?) walked over to him with a grin no matter if he ended up being right or not.

“Yep~! Good boy, good boy,” the taller responded, crouching down to pat Leo's head. Leo pouted a little, trying to duck away from it, as his hair was perfectly messy as it was,  _thank you very much_.

Leo turned his focus back to the papers before him, getting to work. They needed another new song, so he'd need to work his hardest to provide.

“Oh, you like composing, right Leo-san?” Mama asked as he watched Leo draws a staff messily, dragging the pen across what looks to be the back of his homework. Leo only gave a grunt and a nod in response, lost in his work.

“D'you want a ruler for that?” Mama laughed and properly sat down on the floor beside him.

Leo shook his head, because his music didn’t need to be _neat_ , it just needed to be beautiful.

So they sat in a comfortable silence, the only noise being the occasional hum of the melody from Leo.

“You're in ‘Chess’, right?” Mama tried after about 15 minutes, only earning a curt response of “Yep,”

After a beat Leo pulled away from the paper, pausing. “Actually, I think our official name right now is ‘Backgammon’, I don't really keep track, though.”

No further questions are asked after that, Leo moving onto the next sheet of paper hurriedly.

He attempted to continue writing, but he was stopped short.

“ _Goddamnit_ ,”

The silence was broken as Leo cursed and turned to Mama.

“I broke the pen.” He lifted his hand, a huge splash of ink coating it. The pen lay practically split in two, a little bit of the navy blue liquid dripping down the paper. The expression he wore was a mix between frustrated, tired, annoyed, and a little sad, honestly.

Mikejimama muffled a laugh behind his hand, but the way he was smiling was visible in his eyes. “L-Leo-san...” Another chuckle was pushed down, but it wasn’t long before he’d broken into full blown laughter.

“H-Hey!” Leo yelped before sitting up and glaring at Mama. “It’s not that funny, y’know—!”

“Sorry, sorry~,” Mikejimama tried to stop laughing, slowing himself down to a snicker. Leo’s brow furrowed in irritation, lips tugged down into a pout. Mama finally took note, of Leo’s frustration, clearing his throat. “Ah, here, I don’t have a cloth or anything, but...” He undid his tie, then taking Leo’s hand and wiping it gently with the fabric.

“You’re gonna ruin your tie, Mama...” Leo huffed, cheeks tinted a bright red. Mama’s hands were warm and calloused and surprisingly gentle, and— well, this train of thought was getting just a little embarrassing, wasn’t it?

“It’s fine~ the ink is blue, like the tie, _like the brilliant sea_ , so it’s all~ good~!” His positivity was so contagious, Leo found himself smiling too.

“If you say so, then.”

“Well, I say so!” Mama let go of Leo’s hand, dabbing whatever excess ink he could off the paper without smudging it. He tossed the tie aside, reaching for something in his pocket.

He smiled, tongue poking out a little as he handed the pen pulled from his pocket to Leo. “Here’s another, ‘kay? So... keep on writing, Leo-san!”

Leo’s face lit up like a kid on Christmas, taking it from Mama gratefully. “I love you, seriously, I love you~!” Those were the second and third times Leo said those three words to Madara.

Mikejimama giggled, sitting back and shrugging. “It’s not a huge deal, really. But I’m glad I could make you happy, Leo~san!”

Mama’s voice had that familiar singsong tone, the one that was so bright it was almost addicting. Leo could write a hundred masterpieces from the sound of Mama’s pretty voice, but he’d consider it to be unlikely that he could ever perfectly capture and replicate the feeling it gave him. That feeling... it was hard to describe, something like the rising sun shining it’s light on the rain from a stormy night. Leo shook the thought out of his mind, focusing in on his piece at hand once more.

_It was time to get back to working!_

* * *

“I love you,” Leo had said for the fourth time, when they were just casually hanging out at the archery range. Mama had spotted him while he was heading to his club, and Keito wasn’t around to scold him for bringing a noisy visitor to the otherwise quiet club. Plus, Mama mentioned having some skill in archery, so Leo had figured it was fine.

Mama smiled, shyer than the other times Leo had seen it. He draws the bow, and Leo watches his form intently, watched him take a deep breath, tensing. He released, breath spilling out as the arrow flew, just an inch to the right of a bullseye. “Why’re you saying that to me now?” He chuckled after a second.

Leo shrugged, a dumb wide smile gracing his face. “No reason in particular, I just wanted to!”

Mikejimama sat down on the wooden flooring and patted the space beside him, motioning for Leo to sit with him. Leo complied, resting his head upon Mama’s shoulder.

“Why’d you wanna sit?” Leo asked, though not complaining in any sense. It was nice to just sit with the brunet like this anyway— he was warm, and smelled a little like lavender. Lavender was a really nice scent, calming and floral, and it made one unbelievably sleepy. 

“No reason in particular,” Mama reiterated Leo’s earlier response with a snicker. “Thanks for letting me tag along... I haven’t taken up the bow in a while, so it’s nice to get a little practice in to stay sharp.”

“You didn’t look too rusty,” Leo praised, voice not much quieter than his usual bravado. “Hell, you almost hit the center of the target dead-on! You have good aim, plus your form is pretty good too!”

Mikejimama hummed in response to Leo’s compliments, rebutting them with his own. “I’m glad to hear it!You’re amazing, though. You hit the center every time you shot!”

Leo gave him another stupid smile, throwing up a peace sign. “I am in the archery club for a reason, y’know~!”

“Mhm, mhm! Good boy, Leo-san!” Mama patted the ginger’s head, mussing up his bangs and somehow making them even messier than usual. Leo growled just a little before melting into the touch with a pleased expression. Head pats? Maybe okay, even if they’re a little childlike. 

“I love you,” Leo dragged out the words slowly, like dripping honey. He turned a little, falling backwards so he was lying in Mama’s lap. That’s the fifth time. “Your lap is a good pillow, Mama~ I didn’t get a lotta sleep, so is it alright if I take a nap here?”

Before Mama could respond, Leo’s eyes fluttered shut, an overly-content smile taking over his otherwise peaceful face.

“...I guess you can, Leo-san.” Madara smiled a little, Leo faintly hearing the words before drifting into unconsciousness.

* * *

“Wanna walk home together, Mama~?” Leo had rushed out of class to meet up with Mama today, not bothering to stick around and compose for a bit that day. He’d narrowly escaped being chewed out by Sena, darting down the hall before he could be caught. 

He turned to Leo with a grin as he gathered his books. “Sure, lemme grab all my stuff and then we can go!”

So Leo waited, Mama shoving stuff into his bag before turning back to him. 

“Ready?” Leo had asked, tapping his foot against the floor, not out of impatience but boredom. Mikejimama nodded, slinging the bag over his shoulder. “Yep!”

Though they were both fairly loud (some would prefer the term obnoxious), Leo usually did most of the talking. Mama was one who would lend an ear, listen to every wild idea and fantasy he could weave. Occasionally he’d toss in his own idea on whichever subject it was, Leo breaking out in a wide smile and agreeing excitedly.

This day wasn’t much different as they headed home, the topic being some fantasy novel he’d been reading with Ruka-tan. It was probably a little childish, especially for someone his age, but it entranced him nevertheless. He reiterated the story to Mama, probably messing up a few details but getting the general idea across. Mama walked along beside him, humming in response, listening attentively. The vermillion sunset cast their shadows far in front of them.

“Ruka-tan was so scared when we got to that part, but since I’m her totally cool big brother I told her I’d protect her from the goblins,” Leo chuckled, recalling the recent memory. “She’s so cute, you should come over sometime to meet her! You’d love her— if you didn’t, I’d call you crazy, y’know~”

“I’d love to meet her sometime, she sounds super cute!” Mama smiled, and Leo swore he heard Mikejimama mumble something to himself after, but he didn’t quite catch what. Leo continued with his rambling, about the dragons and the goblins and the heroic prince who saved the day. 

As they were walking, Madara’s right hand bumped against Leo’s left just barely, but it was enough for Leo to notice, grabbing onto it without commenting on it, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He did look up to meet Mama’s eyes, though, but Mama just looked away.

_Huh..._

It was probably best not to push about it.

“I love you,” Leo leaned into Mama’s side, giving his hand a comforting squeeze. That made it the sixth time. “Thanks for always letting me talk, Mikejimama.”

After a second, Mama turned to him with the same kind smile as always. “Don’t worry about it, Leo-san! It’s a pleasure to listen.”

* * *

Mama gave Leo his number one of the times they’d hung out, Leo quickly entering it into his phone, careful not to cut himself on the cracked screen. He’d been scolded for breaking his phone by Mama, told to be more careful with such things, and if he wanted Mama would get him a new phone and better case. Leo had declined— it seemed like way too much anyway, besides, he already had a bunch of ideas for songs in the notes on his current one.

The faint glow of the screen illuminated Leo’s room at the very early hour of one a.m. as he pulled up Madara’s number. It was probably— no, definitely too late for this

**leowo: mamaaaa**

**leowo: i have a secreeeet for yoooou**

There were a few minutes of awkward waiting, Leo drumming his hands against his thighs to the beat of the new melody he’d created. He really wasn’t expecting a reply, no way Mikejimama should still be up. A buzzing sound broke his rhythm, and he’d hurriedly turned back over to check it.

**mamamama: why! Are! You! AWake!?/**

Leo chuckled to himself, typing out a response as quickly as humanly possible.  

**leowo: becaaauseeeee ii**

**leowo: i love yoooou**

**leowo: illooooveu**

**leowo: secret revealed; i, in fact, luv u**

**leowo: i love yoooouuu!!!i love you i love you i love yoooooou!!**

**mamamama: ?!??!? <3 **

Leo grinned a little, pulling the sheets over the lower half of his face to hide his smile (as if Madara could even see it in the first place.) This brought the count up to 13, or something like that.

 **mamamama: aaaa!! buut go to sleep you bad boy >** **:/**

**leowo: nooo**

**leowo: i wanted to talk to mikejimamaaaaaa TwT**

**_mamamama is typing..._ **

Turning over, Leo waited kinda-sorta patiently for his reply. 

**mamamama: would you like me to caalk theb**

**mamamama: call***

**mamamama: then?****

**leowo: yes!!!!!!!!!**

**mamamama: okay!**

**_mamamama is calling..._ **

Leo accepted the call as soon as possible, turning it on speaker. “Hey, Mikejimama~”

“Hi, Leo-san~” Mama’s voice was notably sleepy, but still held a cheerful undertone. Leo found it cute, sorta, and the warm feeling Mama’s voice gave him before was bubbling up again. But that was just Mikejimama’s effect on everyone, right?

“Did I interrupt your sleep?” Leo asked, lowering his voice as much as he really could, now just above a gentle whisper. He’d have to be good and considerate for Mama, after all.

There was a tired mumble of “Nope, don’t worry,” from the other end of the line. 

“Mm’kay, if you’re sure...” 

“I’m sure, I’m sure~” Mama giggled, Leo smiling to himself. “Leo-san, your voice is adorable, as always~”

Adorable was never really Leo’s favourite thing to be described as, (it was a far more fitting descriptor for Ruka-tan, in his opinion), but upon hearing it from Mama he decided it’d be fine if he called him that sometimes. Only sometimes, though. 

“Thanks,” He replied, pulling a pillow close to his chest. “Mama, why are you still awake?”

A pause occurred, a momentary silence. “...eh, I dunno. Just couldn’t sleep because of some stuff and things, I guess.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Leo hummed, after all, good friends help each-other. 

“Maybe another time.” The words themselves were rather secretive and solemn, but Mama’s voice didn’t portray any of that. 

Leo decided against pressing on about it, Sena always told him how annoying that could be. “Okey dokey! Hey, wanna hear about this movie Ruka-tan wants to go see? She’s been begging our parents to take her, but they’re always kinda busy. I was planning on taking her sometime next week. Hey! You could tag along if you wanna! I’m sure she wouldn’t mind having another Onii-chan around~...” Leo pauses mid sentence. “...aah, but— what if you become her favourite?!? I’d never forgive you for that, Mama.” Leo growled a little, faintly catching Mama stifling a chuckle.

“I’m not the best big brother myself, so I don’t think she’d like me much”

“Huh— Mama has a sibling?!” Leo asked, bewildered. He was sure Mama hadn’t mentioned that before.... well, at least a solid 78%— no, 75% sure!

“Mhm, my sister... we’re pretty different so we don’t get along too well.” Mama sighed. 

“Well, if you ever want big-bro-lessons, just ask! Not to brag or anything—“ _He was absolutely bragging,_ “But I’m a pretty good big brother if I do say so myself!”

Mama laughed at that, and Leo found he was really starting to take a liking to that laugh. “I might take you up on that offer sometime.”

Leo droned on for a while about this and that, about how he’d found a stray cat on campus, how Ruka-tan lost her last baby tooth recently, everything he could think of, Mikejimama listening and throwing in the odd comment every so often. As time went on the pauses between the comments became more and more spaced out, Leo finally realizing how absolutely tired Mama was. _Geh, I’ve been inconsiderate..._

“I’m gonna try and get to sleep.” Leo declared, Madara humming quietly in response. “...and you should too, Mama. I love you, ‘n you gotta tell me to shut up sometime, okay?! I don’t wanna be the reason you’re not getting any sleep, y’know.” Fourteen.

“Right, right, I will~ goodnight, Leo-san,” Mama murmured. 

“G’night, Mama. Love you, see you at school, ‘kay?” Fifteen, and Leo ended the call.

**Author's Note:**

> anyway another name for this fic is “Tsukinaga Leo is a Stupid Idiot whodoesnt realize his best friend has been in love with his stupid ass the whole time”


End file.
